Thanks to Art in America for the photo
Lillian Bassman's death at 94 was recently covered by major print media in New York City and Los Angeles. I remember her name but not her style, so I Googled her and found some remarkable work to share with you. You can read the details of her life in those two articles so there would be no point in my simply rehashing her astonishing history and rise to fame. Her photos tell an interesting story as well.
Lillian Bassman, Untitled, date unknown
I couldn't find any information about this very typical Bassman pose and print but this and the photo below are very indicative of her unique style of the mid- to late 20th century.
Lillian Bassman, Translucent gown for Harper's Bazaar, mid 1950s
Lillian Bassman, Wonders of Water, Harper's Bazaar, 1959
Lillian Bassman, Carmen, Harper's Bazaar, circa 1963
Lillian Bassman, Olga Pantushenkova, Paris, 1996
The hat is by Christian Lacroix Haute Couture, thanks to a great find in Filth in the Beast blog.
Last but far from least:
Imagine my surprise in finding this among examples of her work on a couple of blogs.
It seems as though the photographer was Horst, not Bassman, and very similar to the Vogue cover which was actually used in the UK edition, below.
Horst [Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann], Lisa Fonssagrives for Vogue (UK) cover for August 1940
[Screen capture from website of Phillips de Pury, France]
